Or at least, the firm doesn't think people would be quite so nice
about the deal.

Here's Deutsche Bank:

Thought experiment: how would this "merger" have been reported if
you swapped the popular, cuddly Warren Buffet with Gordon Gekko?
No-doubt critics would have recalled his audacious acquisition of
Heinz two years ago. Next the sad tales of fired workers and
shuttered factories in order to recoup the 40 per cent he paid
above the decade average sector ev/ebitda multiple. Having
squeezed Heinz's ebitda margin to 28 per cent (the global sector
average margin is just 11 per cent) the story turns to Gordon's
attack on Kraft. Goosed earnings on a 14 times multiple unfairly
justifies taking control of the merged company (Kraft makes
almost twice the revenues and more profit). Questions would have
swirled around the sustainability of Heinz's opex cuts and the
fate of Kraft's 22,000 employees. But it's Warren, not Gordon —
so such a narrative is unimaginable.

It's not totally clear if Deutsche Bank is condemning Buffett's
deal, or applauding his tactics, or pointing out the hypocrisy of
media coverage.

But what is clear is that Buffett just got put very, very close
to Gekko, who came to personify all that was wrong with Wall
Street in the 1980s and in many ways still does.